


If These Wings Could Fly

by Creepyjacobisbad



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Abusive Gabriel Agreste, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Bee Chloé Bourgeois | Queen Bee, EATING DISORDER trigger warning for chapter five, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/F, F/M, Fox Alya Césaire | Rena Rouge, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Sorta Strong Language, Turtle Nino Lahiffe | Carapace, bc thats hilarious to me, bisxual bros adrien and marinette, chloe is all knowing, for chloe/marinette, ladybug is too tired for this, marinette and chat being bros, no one knows anyones identities, rena rouge and carapace hate each other, while alya and nino are couple goals, wink wonk
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-10
Updated: 2020-03-09
Packaged: 2021-01-26 15:20:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 16,048
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21376261
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Creepyjacobisbad/pseuds/Creepyjacobisbad
Summary: Adrien just wants to be free, and to be with the boy he likes.Marinette is really starting to be done with Chloe's shit.Queen Bee isn't really trying to hide her crush for Ladybug, but she's used to it.Chloe is, surprisingly, doing her best.Luka, well, he's having a relatively good time.lmao this is basically me getting pissed at canon, writing the bs i've been putting off writing, and disappointing ppl who read my other three on the go fics
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Luka Couffaine, Chloé Bourgeois/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, background Alya Césaire/Nino Lahiffe
Comments: 54
Kudos: 330





	1. Tired

Look, it’s not his fault. 

That’s very important, so write that down. 

Repeat, it is _ not _his fault he ate shit jumping onto a random balcony.

It was Hawkmoths. 

If it wasn’t for him creating _ five akuma’s _in two days, he would have had tons of rest and food. 

Instead, he hadn’t seen his bed in what felt like forever, and the last thing to enter his stomach was the blood he choked down after a nasty punch to the face. 

Ew, that was gross. Adrien, stop being gross. 

Anyways, back to the balcony. 

Apparently, someone had been _ on _the balcony when he’d landed. 

Whoops. 

He only knew this because, despite his face being buried in concrete, his ears could still very easily pick up the high pitched scream coming from the poor civilian. 

Groaning quietly, Adrien forced himself up onto his elbows. 

“Sorry, sorry,” he raised a placating hand. “I’ll be on my way, so sorry.”

The scream cut off abruptly, and was replaced with a shocked _ “Chat?” _and hey, he knew that voice.

He looked up, and forced his eyes to focus on the girl in front of him. 

Blue hair around her shoulders, bags stretching from her eyes to her cheeks, and a very stern look in her eyes. 

Not the Marinette Adrien was used to seeing, but very familiar to Chat Noir. 

“What the hell are you doing here?” she asked, crossing her arms. Her words were harsh, but her voice held no venom. 

Looking up at her face was too hard, so he opted to look at her fuzzy pink slippers. 

“Oh, you know.” 

A very long pause. 

“Is that it?”

“Yep.” Chat smirked. Or, tried to. His mouth may have just twitched but that was okay. 

Marinette tapped her foot impatiently. 

“Well?” she leaned down. “Are you going to get up?”

“Oh, yeah.” Chat laughed nervously. With energy he wasn’t sure he had, he forced himself onto feet that ached with his weight. “I’ll be on my way, then.”

He tried to take a few steps, but fell heavily against the railing. 

His head was swirling, his vision was failing, and he was pretty sure he’d scraped his chin. 

Marinette sighed aggressively from in front of him.

“How long have you been on parole?”

Chat seesawed his hand. “Three days? Give or take?”

Another sigh. 

“Come on.”

Chat yelped as Marinette grabbed his hand and put it over her shoulder. 

“Princess?” he squeaked. “What are you doing?”

“Shoving you in my bed so you can sleep.” she sniffed the air. “When did you last shower?”

Chat’s face went bright red. 

“Of course.” she rolled piercing blue eyes. “We’ll handle that in the morning. Or, later in the morning.”

“What time is it?” Chat asked, struggling to support himself while Marinette opened a trap door. 

Neato. 

“Three? Four?” Marinette shrugged. “I’m not sure. I’ve been up all night doing homework.” 

Chat winced. “Ah. That’s something I also have to do.”

“No surprise there.” Marinette snorted.

“Mean,” Chat pouted, letting her gently lower him down. 

Her bed was big and round, with messy pink sheets and a big cat pillow. 

It was very comfy, and Chat genuinely almost fell asleep right then and there.

“Do I have to worry about you transforming back?” Marinette asked, hopping down to join him.

Chat shook his head. “Nah, we’re all good. I was just poking around, just in case.”

Marinette tutted her disapproval. “You’re overworking yourself.”

“Says you!” Chat points a clawed hand at her. “You look almost as bad as me!”

Her face flushed and she turned away. 

“Whatever. Just- pass me that pillow.”

He passed the plush flower over to her, and she took a blanket with her as she climbed down her ladder. 

“Where are you going?” he flopped over, wincing as his chin scraped against the stuffed cats face.

“I’m sleeping down here.” she threw the pillow down on her fainting couch, then dropped onto it herself. 

“I can sleep there!” he protested, his stomach churning at the thought of inconveniencing her. “You can have your bed!”

But she merely waved him off. “It’s fine, Kitty. I was gonna end up sleeping here anyways.”

He gnawed on his lower lip. “Are you sure?”

She turned away from him. “Goodnight Chat.”

He frowned. “But-” 

A slipper narrowly missed his head. 

“I _ said, _good night!”

Pouting exaggeratedly, Chat moved further back onto the bed. 

He was tempted to transform back, just to get out of the leather suit, but wasn’t tired enough to follow through. 

Instead, he pulled a fluffy blanket over himself, and drifted away. 

While Chat slept peacefully, Marinette was fuming. 

_ ‘How can his parents let him get away with this?!’ _ she thought angrily. _ ‘He’s falling apart, literally, and no one’s doing anything about it!’ _

Well, not anymore. If that dumb leather clad cat wasn’t going to take care of himself, she would do it for him. 

Her mind was already swirling with what she wanted to make him for breakfast. She could guarantee that he hadn’t eaten recently; he was always saying how the treats she would bring to superhero meet ups were the first thing he’d had in days.

So, what to feed him?

There were croissants, crepes, pancakes, muffins-

Really, the list was endless. 

Marinette bit on her hand absently, lost in her thoughts. 

Her father would be up soon; should she do it before then, or after, so he could help?

Before, it would look suspicious if she suddenly wanted a big breakfast at four thirty in the morning. 

She pulled her phone out of her pajama pants pocket. Three twenty. 

That was enough time to do what she wanted to do. 

Slipping out of her emergency bed, Marinette silently made her way down the two flights of stairs to the bakery. 

It looked eerie at night; empty glass displays glinting in the light of the moon (and the street lamp outside the door).

It looked wrong without the dozens of pastries her father made. It looked lonely. 

Shaking her head, Marinette forced herself to focus. 

She had to get this right. 

While she could have done this in her kitchen, she didn’t want to risk making too much noise two doors down from her parents bedroom, especially with how clumsy she was. 

So, she got to work in the fancy kitchen her father had carefully planned out. 

She mixed the dry ingredients first, then the wet, then mixed them together, then poured them onto a pan. Poured six more times. Covered them in fruits.

Regretted that because she wasn’t sure when Chat would wake up. 

Regretted all of it because she wasn’t sure when he would wake up, or if he even liked pancakes. 

Regretted it because _ goddammit the pancakes would be cold. _

Regret. Panic. Regret. 

Deep breaths, Marinette. Deep breaths. 

The voice in her head sounded like Tiki’s, but the kwami was fast asleep back in her room. 

Wrapping the pancakes in seran, Marinette crept back up to the main floor of her house. 

She slipped the pancakes in the fridge, so she could microwave them when he woke up, and went back to her bed. 

She crawled into her blanket, groaning in relief. She’d done so much lately, both as Ladybug and Marinette, and she was exhausted. Some sleep would be very welcome. 

Yawning, Marinette snuggled up, and let herself fall asleep. 

When Adrien woke up, he was very scared for a moment. The ceiling above him wasn’t his, and the corkboard, despite having pictures of him and his friends on it, weren’t from his room. 

His heartbeat spiked, and he found himself on the verge of hyperventilating. 

Then, he heard Marinette humming below him, and released a slow breath. 

That’s right, she’d let him stay the night. 

Adrien smiled. Marinette was so nice. To her classmates, to him, to the random bird guy in the park- she was just a really nice person. 

Even if he saw a sassy side of her as Chat. 

Marinette was working away at something, carefully hand sewing dark fabric with vibrant green thread. 

He hopped down lightly, and walked up behind her. 

“Whatcha doin?” he asked, only to receive an elbow to the face. 

“Sorry! Holy shit- I’m so sorry!” Marinette exclaimed, hands flitting about his face. 

Rubbing his nose, he waved her away. “It’s fine, it’s fine. I forget how quiet I am sometimes.”

She still looked apologetic, but let it melt away into scorn. 

“You should have known not to sneak up on me.” she bapped him lightly on the head. “Surprising a girl when she’s working is very rude.”

He frowned. “Oww.”

“You’re fine.” Marinette turned back to her work, but Chat caught the smirk on her face as she did. 

Letting his frown fall away, he sat on her desk and tried to see what she was working on. 

“Whatcha doin?” he asked, swinging his legs. 

Marinette blushed slightly. 

“I’m, uh, actually making a sweater based on you.”

Chat’s heart glowed. “Really!?!”

“It’s not for me,” she growled, “it’s for my friend, Luka. He’s a big fan of yours.”

She might as well as stabbed him in the heart. His chest froze, and he felt like he couldn’t breathe.

See, Luka was- well, perfect, to say the least. He lived the life Adrien dreamed he could have had, and, despite his easy going nature, managed to rope Adrien in when he let himself get a little carried away trying to soak up his oh so rare freedom. 

With his other friends, he felt like he was catching up on a normal childhood, doing normal kid stuff. 

But with Luka, he was going to the top of the eiffel tower to see how many people were wearing red, or going to the museum to very seriously consider what conversations the people in the paintings were having. 

Or, and this was one of Adriens favourite memories, dancing in the rain, while singing Abba as horribly as they could manage.

His father didn’t approve of Luka, with his painted nails and heavy metal music, but Adrien didn’t care about that. His father hated all of his friends. 

So, Luka wanting a hoodie of him, of Chat- well, that did something funny to his heart. 

“Hellooo?” Marinette snapped her fingers in front of his face. “Earth to Shit Noir.”

He swatted her hand away. “Meanie.”

“Whatever.” she crossed her arms and eyed him critically. “What was that about?”

Chat was grateful his mask hid most of his blush. “I’m just- surprised someone would want a hoodie based on me, I guess.”

“Wow, Kitty’s being humble for once.” Marinette gave what could only be a shit eating grin. “Is it hard? Is that why you looked constipated?”

Chat coughed, and searched his mind for a different topic. “You got anything for breakfast?”

Marinettes eyes still sparkled with mischief, but she relented. “Yeah, I’ve got pancakes downstairs. I’ll go heat em up.”

Chat’s eyes sparkled. “Pancakes? Really?” 

“Yes?” she arched her brow. “Why, what’s so special?”

Father _ never _let him eat stuff like that. Only carefully regulated food for Adrien. 

But Chat, apperantly, got pancakes.

“I just really like them.” Chat clapped his hands giddily. “So I’m excited.”

She shook her head, clearly amused. “What a strange Kitty you are.”

She went down to get them, and Chat did a little happy dance. 

Pancakes! Oh, he knew there were benefits to this whole hero thing!

When she brought them up, and they had choclate chips and berries on them, he might have had to blink away a tear. 

It was food, and food he couldn’t remember ever having, let him live. 

He ate them so fast he felt like he was going to vomit, but he kept going because he knew it would be a good vomit. 

A worthwhile vomit. 

Marinette gave him a disgusted look and went back to working on the hoodie. 

Luka’s hoodie. 

He was blushing again. 

Choking down the last of the very yummy food, Chat drapped himself over Marinette’s back. 

“Thank you, Princess.”

“Such manners.” she teased. “You wanna shower too? My parents are in the bakery working, they won’t know.” 

He pulled away. 

“No, Princess, you’ve already done too much.” he raised his hands. “I’ll just go-”

She yanked on a leather ear. “Listen, cat. You smell like shit. You’ve been in that getup for what- four days? You need to shower, and I can’t trust you to do it on your own. So- go down there.”

Squirming under her hold, he gave in. “Fine, fine. I’ll have a quick shower.”

She grinned. “Perfect.”

Shyly, he followed her down her stairs. They led into the kitchen he’d been in a few times, and the open living room. He saw a lunchbox with what looked like a handwritten note on it, and family pictures on the walls. 

The space was small, and must have felt cramped at times, but it was homely, and Chat found himself enjoying it much more than his own home. 

Down a hallway they went, and stopped in front of a door with ocean themed stickers on it. At the height they were placed, it was obviously a child who’d done it, and Chat internly cooed at the idea of young Marinette proudly sticking them on. 

“Shower’s controls are backwards,” Marinette informed him, opening the door. “Right is hot, left is cold. One of the shampoo bottles is empty, but a full one is there, it just might be on the floor. 

Use the strawberry conditioner, it smells the best.”

Chat saluted her. “Aye aye, captain.”

Marinette rolled her eyes. “Try not to get water everywhere. I’ll be in the kitchen when you’re done.”

He nodded, and went in. 

A pink rug lay in front of the bathtub shower mix, and the counter was littered with toothbrushes, hair products, and beard ointments. Adrien smiled at the clutter. 

Once Marinette informed him she was leaving, Adrien released his transformation. 

Plagg spiralled out, already complaining.

“Really, Adrien?” he whined. “Why are we _ here _? They don’t have any good cheese here!”

Adrien sighed the sigh of a person who was tired of hearing the same thing over and over. 

“Plagg, I will get you cheese. You know I will. I have some in my shirt as we speak. It’s already making the bathroom stink.”

But Plagg had stopped listening as soon as he heard Adrien had cheese, and barreled into his shirt. 

Adrien scowled, and forcefully through his shirts onto the ground. Plagg screeched his complaints, but Adrien ignored him in favour of removing the rest of his clothes and stepped into the shower. 

It felt _ so good _to let the hot water wash over his aching muscles. He sighed heavily, just letting the water pound into his head and down his back. Days worth of grime were wiped from his body, and he felt immense relief, noticing that he did, in fact, smell like a person again. 

He stood there for just a bit longer, just to really soak it in. the way things were going with Hawkmoth, it would be awhile before he got a moment like this again, so he was going to enjoy it. 

Finally, when Plagg’s complaining got loud enough, Adrien stepped out and toweled himself down. 

Reluctantly, he called back on his transformation, and winced at the feeling of the tight suit on his clean, wet skin. 

Shaking his head of the remaining water droplets, Chat stepped back into the hallway. 

Marinette was humming again, so Adrien followed her voice back to the kitchen. 

She was eating from the lunchbox, and reading something on her phone.

“Isn’t that lunch?” he asked, peering in and seeing a half eaten sandwich and some grapes. 

“It’s lunchtime, so yeah.” Marinette rolled her eyes.

Chat choked on the grape he’d just popped into his mouth. “_ What _?”

Marinette gave him a look. “Yeah? You woke up pretty late.”

Ice crept up his throat. 

Shit. 

His dad was going to kill him. 

Fuck. 

His breathing was speeding up again, and he felt himself backing into a corner. 

What was he going to do? His father wouldn’t let him out for _ weeks _after this, and he had so many plans- 

How could he have been so _ stupid _? Shit. Shit shit shit-

“_ Breathe, _Kitty, there we go, just like that.”

Wide green eyes focused on sharp blue ones, and he followed Marinette’s instructions until he couldn’t feel his heart pounding out of his chest. 

“Good,” Marinette praised, hands running up and down his arms. “Do you want to sit? Do you want water?”

He nodded, and slid to the ground, back still against the wall. 

His hands were trembling, and he was still terrified, but he felt a little better. 

Marinette came back, glass in hand, and Chat drank from it greedily. 

“Slow down.” she urged. 

He did, and soon it was empty.

She took the glass from him, and set it behind her. 

“Are you okay?” she asked, eyes shining with worry.

He nodded. 

“Can you tell me what’s wrong?” she prodded gently. 

He closed his eyes, and took some more deep breaths. 

“My- my dad. He’s gonna- he’s gonna be _ so mad _when I finally get home.”

Marinette’s expression stayed calm and open, but her eyes hardened. “Will he hurt you?”

He shook his head. “No, no, he won’t hit me or anything. But I’m gonna be under house arrest for, like, a month after this, especially without a good excuse.”

Marinette furrowed her brow, then brightened.

“Blame yourself!”

“How… would that help?” that was kind of what he was trying to avoid. 

“Sorry, not you you, but Chat Noir you.” Marinette tried to clarify. “Like, say because of all the akuma attacks and fighting, you didn’t feel safe to come home.”

Chat mulled it over. 

“It’s not perfect- but I think it’ll work.” he smiled at Marinette. “Thank you.”

“Anytime,” she smirked, eyes soft. “Do you need to go?”

“Yeah, I think so.” he stood up. “Thank you, again. Really.”

“It’s whatever,” Marinette waved airily. “Anything for one of the people who keep us safe.”

“Yeah, I am pretty great.” he winked. 

Marinette rolled her eyes. “Move along, Kitty.”

He made to leave, but she grabbed his wrist.

“And,” her tone was deadly serious, “if your dad fucks with you, I’ll fuck with him.”

Chat was startled at such aggression from someone like her, then grinned. 

“Of course, Princess.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is just gonna be some cute stuff, some healing, and so how end with a hawkmoth fight   
Basically a chill ride with some emotions lmao


	2. A Night on the Town

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> was gonna write more for this chapter but the word count had 69 in it so you know i had to stop there

The next time Marinette saw Chat, it was during a meet up a top a very smelly Chinese restaurant. 

Carapace was eating noodles from the sketchy establishment, which annoyed Rena, which delighted Carapace, which annoyed Rena, which- 

Basically, it was a very annoying cycle, and she really needed Queen Bee to show up. 

Marinette tapped her foot violently, and gripped her elbows tightly. 

Dammit, Queenie, what was the hold up?

“Getting impatient, M’lady?” Chat asked, resting against his staff. 

Ladybug scowled. 

“We have a schedule to uphold, she needs to take this more seriously!” she snapped.

“Maybe she just likes making you squirm.” Chat purred. “I must say, you look very cute with your brow furrowed like that.”

Marinette stuck her tongue out at him. 

If you thought just because he’d moved on from her he’d stopped flirting, well, you were  _ very  _ wrong.

In fact, Marinette was positive he was getting worse. 

“Shut up,” she pushed him off balance, and his arms whirled as he tried to right himself. His staff cluttered to the ground as a result, but someone kicked it up into their outstretched hand. 

“Miss me?” Queen Bee fluttered her lashes, twirling the staff between her fingers. 

“Hardly.” Ladybug snarked, snatching her partners weapon from her. “What took you?”

“Oh, Love, you know I  _ hate  _ seeing you upset,” Queenie draped herself against Ladybug’s shoulder. “It’s unbearable, really. I feel simply  _ awful _ .”

“Yeah, yeah,” Ladybug pushed her off.

“Here, let me make it up to you.” Queenie walked towards Chat Noir, and tripped him, and he made the  _ funniest _ noise as he fell. 

Marinette couldn’t hide her snort fast enough, and Queenie beamed with delight.

Somehow, Queen Bee’s antics always cleared Ladybug’s bad moods.

It was annoying and, in Chat’s very loud opinion, unfair.

Chat pouted when she handed him his baton and helped him up. “I’d be in _so_ much trouble if I was this late.”

“That’s because you would have been late chasing a pigeon.” Ladybug bopped him on the nose. 

Chat opened his mouth to protest, but Carapace cut in. 

“So, LB, what’s the scoop?”

Ladybug switched to leader mood, sobering instantly. 

“No reports of an akuma, but you know we can never be too careful. I want eyes out for any of them, and any petty crime you might come across. Carapace, Chat and Rena, you cover the west side of the city. Queenie and I’ll take the east side.”

Carapace and Rena Rouge groaned, but Chat eagerly hooked his arms around their shoulders.

“Isn’t this great, guys? The three amigos, fighting crime!”

“Don’t call us that.” Carapace grumbled, tugging his hood further over his head. 

“This  _ sucks, _ ” Rena growled, arms folded.

“Positive attitudes, people! Smiles all around!” Chat encouraged.

Ladybug turned away from the trio, smiling at Queenie. “Ready to go?”

“You know it,” Queenie winked. 

They sprung from the ledge, yoyo and spinning top wrapping around everything and anything to propel the girls farther into the night sky. 

Adrenaline surged through Marinette, and she grinned fiercely as she flew over the rooftops.

As someone who was too clumsy to walk up  _ stairs  _ sometimes, the rush of flying gracefully was something she would never tire of.

They soared over busy streets, and restaurant decks with people dining and laughing, and her heart swelled. 

Paris was truly her favourite place.

Eventually they landed on a row of townhouses, Ladybug taking a moment to catch her breath. 

“So,” Queenie began, hands behind her back. “What’s on the menu, Love?”

Ladybug stretched her back, humming. 

“Well, there’s no harm in doing a perimeter check.” she decided. “Poke around, see if we can find somewhere we’re needed.”

“I’m sure we won’t find anything,” Queenie sighed. “Wednesday’s are always slow for crime.”

“But no day is slow for akuma’s.” Ladybug reminded her. “Especially lately. It’s like someone is just pumping ‘feel bad gas’ into the air or something.”

“How devious,” Queenie covered her mouth in mock shock. 

Ladybug scowled playfully. “Whatever.” 

They took off, Ladybug leading the way.

Queen Bee held back, smiling fondly as her leader swings away.

Before she’d ever known what the bee miraculous was, Chloe had fallen madly in love with Ladybug. 

Was it a celebrity crush? Yeah, okay, maybe a little. But could you blame her?

A beautiful woman saving Paris constantly and giving motivational speeches while doing it- it was just  _ asking  _ Chloe’s weak lesbian heart to fall for her. 

Then, when she’d gotten the miraculous? And gotten to see her up close?

Chloe hadn’t stood a chance. 

_ Especially  _ with Ladybug giving her the nickname ‘Queenie’. Like, how cute was_ that_?

In person Ladybug was sassy, and tired, and quick witted, and Chloe was almost overwhelmed. 

So, she’d maybe been a little cold to Chat Noir when she first met him, thinking he was a competitor for Ladybugs affections. And, for a bit, he was.

Then his feelings started to fade, while hers only got stronger.

And she found out he was Adrien, so, that was a reason to like him more. 

Oh, yeah, she knew basically everyone’s identities. 

Rena Rouge had slipped one day and mentioned her father worked for the zoo, and then on another occasion, that she had twin sisters.

Now, Chloe didn’t care too much for her classmates, but come on, she wasn’t so out of it to not remember the new girls dad turning into a panther while on the clock, and that she was related to some of the only twins in the area. 

For Carapace, well, she’d recognize that nazally  _ dude  _ anywhere. She did hear it  _ every single day _ , after all. 

Adrien had been too easy to figure out- she’d known him her whole life, after all. She’d be a pretty shitty friend to not know it was him.

The only person she didn’t know was Ladybug. 

Could she have figured it out? Probably. 

But she didn’t want to. 

If she learned Ladybugs secret, she wanted it to be because she told her. 

“Come on, Queenie!” Ladybug called. “Why so slow?”

Queen Bee pulled herself out of her thoughts. 

“Just giving you a little ego boost.” she replied smoothly. 

“Thank you  _ so much _ .” Ladybug rolled her eyes.

Even in the limited light, they glowed a brilliant blue. 

They swung over the Notre Dame, and Chloe begged for them to land. There was something about standing on one of the two towers and looking over her city that warmed Chloe’s icy heart.

“It’s beautiful,” Ladybug murmured.

Oh, and it might have been Ladybug’s favourite thing too. But that was- pfft that wasn’t the point.

Nope. Not at all. 

Ladybug sat down, legs dangling over the edge.

“Isn’t it wonderful?” she sighed. “The lights, the buildings, all the people, even so late at night. It’s perfect.”

“Well, I wouldn’t be putting all my effort into defending it if it was anything less.” Queen Bee joked, sitting next to her. 

“I would,” Ladybug whispered. “I’d defend it if it was nothing but ashes.”

Chloe’s heart caught in her throat. 

Ladybug looked so- determined. So passionate. 

She didn’t love her city for the aesthetic- she loved it for what it was. 

Her home, and the home of her friends and family and strangers.

Chloe had to tear her eyes away, before she did something stupid.

Like start bawling. 

So they sat there, watching for a bit, just taking it all in.

On the other side of the city, things were much less peaceful. 

“You dumbass!”

“How was I supposed to know?!”

“It’s a giant fucking  _ RIVER,  _ how could you  _ not  _ know!”

Chat was bent over, howling with laughter. 

So, Carapace may have, accidentally, convinced all of them he knew a shortcut to the southwest side of the city, and in a series of unfortunate events, landed them all in the Seine. 

They were soaking wet, and Rena had spent a good five minutes spitting out strands from her ponytail, which had folded over her face. 

Chat was so distracted by his laughter, and the yelling of his teammates was so loud, that he didn’t even notice the person sleepily stumbling up to him. 

They leaned against his back, elbows supporting them.

Chat froze, fear silencing his laughter.

The person yawned behind him, and groggily mumbled “Whassa problum?”

And then Chat  _ really  _ froze, because there was no way that was who he thought it was.

Carapace and Rena coughed awkwardly, avoiding eye contact.

“Sorry, uh, sir,” Carapace stammered. “We’re just doing patrol. We’ll be on our way.”

“Long as thus no akumeh.” he slurred.

Chat’s back was starting to ache but he refused to stand up. 

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a big, red object floating in the water, and cursed himself for not noticing sooner. 

Chat squeaked when a hand started carding through his hair, and almost passed out at the quiet giggle that followed it.

“Soft.” 

Finally, the boy peeled off, hand still in Chat’s hair. 

“Nice meeting y’all.” Luka waved to them, then faced Chat, and  _ shit  _ their faces were close.

Luka's hand was holding the back of his head, almost angling it in which Chat fought very hard to not think of as the perfect kissing position.

“Mm,” Luka smiled doppily, eyes lidded with sleep. “M like you.”

Adrien’s face became such a vibrant red he was sure it would’ve been visible in pitch darkness. 

Luka patted his head gently, and then tried to pad back to his boat, but he was so sleepy he almost tumbled into the river.

Body moving faster than his mind, he caught Luka in  _ such  _ a stereotypical romance movie move, like, dammit Chat, keep it together.

Luka gave his cheek a lil pat. “Thans man, lmost fell.”

Chat’s face, somehow, got redder. 

“Uh, yeah, no problem.” Chat violently looked anywhere else as he righted them.

“Can you walk meh back?” Luka pointed at his boat. “M too tired to do it mself.”

Chat swore he died then and there.

“Like, uh, to the boat?” his voice cracked like a damn pubescent. “Or uh, to your, uh, room?”

“Jus thah boat,” Luka leaned heavily against Chat’s side. “M good to go frum there.”

“Oh-okay,” Chat stuttered.

Looping Luka’s arm around his shoulders, he slowly helped the older boy to his houseboat. 

He was taller than Adrien by a few inches, but the way he was slouching put them at the same height. Blue dyed hair tickled Adrien’s nose, but it smelled fruity, so he wasn’t complaining. 

Luka was decked out in a baggy shirt boasting a soccer teams emblem, and baggy blue pants that his bare feet constantly tripped over. 

“Don’t your feet hurt?” Chat asked, concerned.

“They’re mostly cold.” Luka tried to shrug.

Chat bit his lip, wondering if he was brave enough to do it.

Taking a deep breath, he scooped Luka up bridal style.

Holy shit he was. 

Luka giggled again, low and breathy and Chat almost cried it sounded so pretty. 

“Thans,” Luka looped his arms around his neck, nuzzling closer.

Chat almost combusted.

Luka was so warm against his torso, and Chat’s nose was now buried in his soft, blue locks.

Walking briskly, Chat sped up to the plank connecting the boat to the ledge. 

The Couffaines constantly went up and down the river, never really staying in one place.

Was that legal? Hell if Adrien knew, but they did it, and they never got in trouble. 

The wood of the deck creaked under his boots, and he winced, hoping he didn’t wake up Juleka.

“This s good.” Luka told him.

“Oh, yeah, of course.” Chat carefully lowered him to the ground, and Luka did a very good job at not falling over.

“M gonna go bed now,” he informed the leather clad hero. 

“Okay, good night, Luka.” Chat waved.

“Nigh’ Chat,” Luka waved back, then disappeared into the lower deck, sparing him one last grin. 

Chat stood there for a moment, letting the feeling of Luka pressed against his chest fade, before turning and walking off the ship.

When he returned to his teammates, they were giving him some  _ very  _ judgy looks.

“Had to carry him, did you?” Rena asked, unimpressed.

“He was gonna fall over!” Chat defended himself.

“Mhm, sure.” she sniffed.

“Damn Chat, putting the moves on the first hot guy you see.” Carapace shook his head. “And when he’s basically asleep, too.”

“His feet were cold!” Chat’s voice pitched horribly.

“Whatever you have to tell yourself.” Rena turned on her heel and jumped away. 

Carapace followed, tutting at Chat Noir one last time. 

Chat sputtered his rage, then launched himself after them. 

“It was completely innocent! I have done nothing wrong!”

Rena, with Carapace on her back, because they were a team now, apparently, ignored him. 

Groaning, Chat followed silently. 

The streets on that side of the city were just as quiet as the other, no sign of crime or akuma’s anywhere.

Adrien couldn’t help his sigh of relief. With all that had been going on lately, he could really use a-

Dammit, his Staff was ringing.

Settling down on the nearest roof, he answered it.

“M’lady? What’s wrong?” he couldn’t keep the slight bitterness out of his voice as he asked.

“I know, I’m tired too,” Ladybug sounded truly apologetic. “But this one- it’s kinda big.”

“We’ll be right there.”

Rena and Carapace actually looked excited, and he knew that was because they hadn’t seen much action lately. 

He and Ladybug had been taking the brunt of the akuma attacks, and Chat had been handling petty crime personally. It kept him out of the house, even if it left him a dead man walking, so he’d taken to throwing himself into his herowork. 

Ladybug informed him they were on the street before the Notre Dame, and the trio was off. 

Turns out ‘pretty big’ meant a swarm of gigantic bees that had the face of a pudgy, moustached man.

Just for future reference. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lol some lil hints at romance. real subtly
> 
> also everytime i read staff i thought staff infection so. thats a thing ig
> 
> also also english is bs if it wants me to believe everytime isnt a word??? we combine everything else im combining this too dammit


	3. An Adventure

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> lOts of pov switching in this one, literally bounce between four different characters sidif so get ready for random switches
> 
> Also nonbinary Alix, fight me. I may love femme them as an adult but I’m putting aside my own gayness for a more gender neutral appearance  
Yes I’m projecting shhh

“That’s bullshit and  _ blatantly _ untrue! This isn’t a discussion, that’s just  _ straight up _ the tea, sis!”

“It’s absolutely not! Ladybug is one hundred percent dating Chat Noir!”

Alix looked more than prepared to put fists to faces.

“You take that back you ugly skank.” they snarled.

“Hey!” Juleka stepped in. “Don’t call her that!”

Alix and Rose had been arguing about Ladybugs dating status since the beginning of lunch, and Chloe was about to lose her shit. 

_ So  _ many people still thought there was a possibility of them being an item, despite Chat moving on a literal year ago. It was grating on her nerves, especially as someone who was very committed to dating Ladybug herself. 

She was tempted to say something, preferably scathing, optionally hurtful, yes you could have one without the other, but she was eating lunch with Adrien today, and he kept giving her Looks. 

“Shut up.” she snapped, stabbing a blueberry in her salad viciously. 

“I didn’t say anything,” he smirked into his palm in such a Chat Noir move Chloe almost vomited.

“Disgusting.” she gagged.

He snickered, swinging his legs like a child under the table, kicking her. 

“Asshole,” she growled, “wanna know what it feels like to have a metal spoon up there?  _ Dry _ ?”

“Ooo, spicy.” Adrien beamed his peachy model goodness at her.

“I hate you.” she shoved a bland mouthful of salad into her mouth, and went back to eavesdropping. 

“You know, the point of us eating lunch together is that we, you know, hang out  _ together _ .” Adrien leaned into her line of sight. 

Chloe sighed, pushing away her lunch container. “Why must you intrerup my endeavours?” 

“Because they typically end up with you almost getting your teeth bashed in.” he answered simply, licking his pudding spoon, a gift from Nino. 

Chloe sniffed and turned her nose up to him. “Humph. Not my fault people respond to my truth with violence.”

“Ah yes,” Adrien sighed fondly. “You calling Marinette a shit eating toe licker. Very truthful.”

Chloe blushed. “She was being a bitch?”

He gave her a look that very clearly said ‘ _ really? That’s the story we’re going with?’  _ and she did not appreciate it. 

“Support me, you shitty best friend.” she waved her fork threateningly at him.

“Convincing.” he faked a cheerful smile. 

She huffed and flipped her ponytail extravagantly.

“What’s your deal with her, anyways?” Adrien dared to ask. 

“Uh, she’s horrible?” Chloe really didn’t know why no one else saw this. “She’s such a bitch, and so fucking mean.”

“To you and only you.” Adrien pointed out. “Because you’re always starting it.”

Again Chloe blushed. “Not my fault people don’t agree with everything I say.”

Adrien gave her a pained look. “Chlo-”

“Drop it.” Chloe ignored the urge to slump onto the table, instead standing. “I have shit to do in the library, I’ll see you later.”

She walked past the table where the discussion was taking place, and received more than one dirty look.

But she didn’t care. It wasn’t her problem. They were just jealous, they just wished they could be like her, be as smart as her. She wasn’t to blame for that. 

Now, if her vast intelligence could help her out in school, that would be great.

Chloe grimaced internally. 

Her bad grades were a source of great shame for the blonde. She just didn’t get how she could be  _ wrong  _ so often. It didn’t make sense! Obviously it was rigged somehow, but she couldn’t claim that on every test, apparently, even if it was true. 

So, she was forced to study whenever she could, as if that would help her overcome the system that was stacked against her. 

Chloe selected a table near the back, away from all the other students, and dropped her bag into the chair beside her. 

She paused to check her makeup, pleased to see her blue eyeshadow holding up. Not many could pull off blue, but Chloe could. How could she not? She pulled everything off. 

Satisfied, she pulled out her math textbook and fluffy notebook. She opened to what they were studying, and began to read the page. 

Growling, she slammed it shut after barely finishing the first paragraph. 

This was ludicrous! Chloe knew exactly what she was supposed to do, and she did it perfectly! It just- didn’t work for some reason. 

She groaned quietly and let her head fall on to the table. 

She was doomed to fail. 

No, that wasn’t true! She was born to succeed, this was just an obstacle someone had placed in her path. She had to make someone move it, and she would be good to go. 

Someone was rustling through the shelves beside her, and Chloe snapped to attention.

The rustling got closer and closer, until, with an all too familiar cry, Marinette tumbled onto the ground.

Groaning, Marinette rubbed her head and searched the ground blindly for her book..

Chloe sneered down at the girl, quickly slipping her textbook into her bag. “Shame the shelf didn’t come down with you.” 

“Shame your mother didn’t drop you harder.” Marinette snarked back.

The words exchanged were harsh- some would say too harsh- but they bounced off Chloe like rubber bullets, and Marinette never seemed too affected by their insults either. It was just what they did. Chloe said something mean, Marinette said something mean back. It was what they had done since elementary school. 

“What do you want, pond scum?” Chloe sniffed, turning away.

“To get my book?” Marinette raised the item into the air; it was the biography of some designer or another. “Not everything is about you, thankfully. Otherwise we’d all be walking around in poorly bleached hair and ugly banana suits.”

“Sticks and stones.” Chloe said flippantly. “Move along, Dupain-Cheng. I don’t have time for you.”

“Charming,” Marinette rolled her eyes. 

Marinette made her way to the front of the library, and Chloe released a sigh of relief. 

No one should know she had a weakness, especially Dupain-Cheng. It wasn’t her place.

Marinette had already brushed off her encounter with Chloe. 

It was just one of those things, like eating breakfast, or using the bathroom. It would’ve been weirder if she hadn’t had some confrontation with her. 

No, she was caught up in a different matter. 

Her hoodie for Luka was almost done, but she had one last thing she very badly wanted to add. 

She was very proud of how it looked; black fabric, giant cat paw outlined in vibrant neon green on the chest, large front pocket also outlined in the same green, cat ears on the hood with green triangles, and green cuffs on the sleeves. All that was really left, in her opinion, was the signature bell. 

But of all the ones she’d looked at, none had suited her partner in crime. Or, anti crime. 

And this hoodie was just as much for him as it was for Luka. The way his face lit up when he’d seen it- she had to make it perfect. Had to make sure it was absolutely perfect. 

The end of lunch bell was about to ring, so Marinette made her way back to her classroom, still caught up on the bell problem.

Naturally, she bumped into someone and almost fell down the stairs. 

“Whoa!” the person grabbed her and helped her stabilize. 

“Thanks, uh-” oh shit. “A-adrien.”

“Anytime,” he winked. “You should probably pay more attention.”

“Haha, yeah,” she scratched the back of her head awkwardly. 

“What were you thinking about?” he asked.

Marinette squeaked, trying to figure out what she should say. 

He smiled easily at her, waiting for her to gather her thoughts. That was one of the things she liked about Adrien- he always gave her time to get herself together. It was nice, knowing she wasn’t annoying him as she threw her thoughts together.

“So, uh, I was, um, thinking about this hoodie? I’m making it for a friend, and it’s, um, based on Chat Noir? And uh, I wanted to add. A bell? But I haven’t found the right, um, one.” she stumbled. 

Why was she so tongue tied around Adrien?

Because he was motherfucking gorgeous like. Who adjusted to that? Who learned to cope with such beauty?

She was also frazzled in general when it came to non important stuff. 

Finding a way to defeat a villain? Easy peasy.

Trying to figure out if she wanted toast or cereal for breakfast? Hour long debate. 

Adrien’s eyes lit up.

“Really? A bell?”

“Uh, yeah.” she chewed on her cheek.

“I know this great pet store- I go there with Nino to buy stuff for his fish- and I always see this collar there and think ‘wow, that looks like something Chat Noir would wear.”

“Really?” Marinette leaned in eagerly. “Could you show me? After school?”

He hesitated, face falling slightly. 

“Probably not, my father would never allow me to do anything off schedule.” 

Marinette’s mind was running a million miles a minute. If she wanted to do something, she was going to do it, no matter what. 

“What if we skip?” she proposed, surprising herself. She’d never skipped for non superhero stuff before.

Adrien’s eyes went wide. “What?”

“Yeah,” she began to grow confident in her idea. “We ask to work in the library, but instead, we go to the pet store!”

Adrien gasped at the mere idea. “What if we get caught?”

Marinette gave him a very serious look. “We die.”

A look of genuine fear flashed across his face, and then he burst into the cutest giggles. 

“Okay, let’s do it.” he smiled, fist clenched in determination. 

“Yeah!” 

Their teacher went over the basics of what they would be doing that class, and when she was done Marinette and Adrien asked to work in the library together. Alya gave Marinette a very confused look, but she discreetly waved her off. She would explain later. 

They were two steps out the door, freedom on their tongues, when the unimaginable happened.

“Ma’am, can I go with them?” Chloe asked, already packing up her things. 

Marinette made the face of one who stepped in dog shit. 

The teacher, that damn betrayer, allowed it. 

Smugly, Chloe walked up to them, linking arms with Adrien. 

“So,” she began as they descended the stairs, “studying in the library, huh?”

“Yes” Marinette said at the same time Adrien said “no”.

Marinette gave him a very stern look, and he gave her a slightly apologetic one back. 

“What?” Chloe looked very unimpressed. 

Marinette sighed. She really  _ really  _ wanted that bell.

“We’re going to the pet store.” Marinette admitted through gritted teeth. “I’m guessing you wanna come?”

“Of course.” the blonde smirked. “I’m not letting you two go off galavanting without me.”

“Naturally,” Marinette muttered. 

“Alright!” Adrien clapped his hands together, looking genuinely pleased. “Let’s go! It’s not too far.”

He led the way, while the two girls hung back, exchanging icy glares and the occasional hushed remark. 

Neither wanted to fight in front of Adrien; even if Chloe knew he wasn’t the angel he presented himself to be, he was still sensitive, and didn’t react well to fighting. 

So, they kept it to a minimum. 

Meanwhile, Adrien was having the time of his life. 

He was skipping school! For something as stupid as a bell! 

Freedom surged through his veins, and he knew exactly who he wanted to share this with. 

He slipped his phone out of his pocket, and pulled up his messenger app. He selected Luka’s name (which may or may not have been punk blueberry with two blue hearts) and texted him excitedly. 

_ Adrien: guess what i'm doing!!!!!!!  _

_ Punk Blueberry: not classwork? _

_ Adrien: yes!!!!!! _

_ Punk Blueberry: what are you doing instead? _

_ Adrien: skipping!!!!!  _

_ Punk Blueberry: whoa reallly? _

_ Punk Blueberry: can’t believe you’re skipping for the first time without me :( _

_ Adrien: somehow the thought of you skipping makes total sense and sounds absoloutly insane at the same time _

_ Punk Blueberry: i dont do it that often, just for important friend stuff, or when i'm drained ;p _

_ Punk Blueberry: why are you skipping? _

_ Adrien: i’m helping Marinette find a cat bell for a hoodie _

_ Punk Blueberry: oh! That’s probably my hoodie! _

_ Punk Blueberry: dude i'm so excited you dont even know, chat noir is the best hero, and he’s lowkey highkey super nice and friendly even if he seems kinda jerky flirty _

Adrien had to put his phone down for a second, to let his heart return to a reasonable speed.  _ _

_ Adrien: you sound like you’re speaking from experience _

_ Punk Blueberry: …..maybe _

Adrien’s heart was thundering again.

_ Adrien: oh????? _

_ Punk Blueberry: it was the other night. Was almost convinced it was just a dream until Juleka confirmed she saw me walking back onto the boat with chat noir hiMSELF  _

_ Punk Blueberry: he and the other superheroes were fighting and he has soft hair and carried me back and. Hes cute okay _

Adrien needed to take a moment to breathe.

“Adrikins?” Chloe called, a hint of concern in her voice. “What are you doing?”

Adrien was crouched on the pavement, hand clutching at the fabric over his heart, gasping for air. Was this dying? It felt like dying. He was sure his stomach was going to explode with light. 

_ Punk Blueberry: oops, almost got caught. Text you after class like the good student i am uwu _

After a few minutes of wheezing and nervous pats on the back from Marinette, he was good to go. 

Luka, true to his word, slipped his phone into his desk, and focused on the rather boring history lesson going on. It wasn’t that history itself was boring, Rome was one of Luka’s favourite things to study, but this teacher in particular seemed determined to make it boring as all heck. 

Tapping impatient black nails against his desk, Luka bounced his leg and eyed the clock. 

He meant what he said; he didn’t skip class for nothing, and Adrien’s trip would have counted as nothing, but he wished very much that he could’ve gone. 

Spending time with Adrien was rare, given his busy schedule and strict father, but when they did, Luka always felt so happy, showing him new things. Even little things like dipping french fries in his milkshake put the biggest smile on the blonds face, and Luka strived to see that smile. 

It wasn’t fair that he had been cooped up all his life; never seeing the world. Luka couldn’t even imagine it, really. He was allowed so many liberties as a child, so much freedom. He’d never felt restricted, or like he was being forced into a box. Not when he wasn’t in school, at least. 

So, hearing Adrien didn’t get to make his own decisions, choose his own life- 

Luka had made it his mission to show Adrien just how weird and fun it could be. 

Every now and then, Luka’s phone would buzz, and he knew it was Adrien texting him updates on his adventure. 

Even if Luka himself couldn’t reply, Adrien always  _ had  _ to text him in the moment, to keep him updated. 

Luka didn’t mind. In fact, he liked seeing the little blurbs, reading them all and watching the story play out. 

So, when the bell rang, Luka whipped out his phone and instantly opened the messages Adrien had sent.

_ Peaches: almost at the store!!!! _

_ Peaches: asjhfKAJAHKFHJF THERES FISH _

_ Peaches: obviously theres fish i new this but stiLL _

_ Peaches: ASJFHSKJFH THERES ONE THATS A WHOLE RAINBOW _

_ Peaches: I WANT IT SO BAD _

_ Peaches: I'M ASKING NATALIE _

_ Peaches: she said no ;(((((((((((( _

_ Luka: lol, dont’ worry. Ill get it for you _

_ Peaches: wait what _

Luka snickered, navigating his way through the busy halls to the last class of the day.

_ Luka: i’ll get you the fish. Was it a beta? _

_ Peaches: uh yeah i think so _

_ Peaches: wait are you for real? _

_ Luka: yeah of course. Itll have to stay at my place but you can visit whenver, and I’ll send uou constant pics on snapchat _

A long silence, during which Luka settled in his seat and pulled out his binder and a pencil.

Finally his phone dinged again, but this time, it was Marinette.

_ Mari: look my dude i dont know what you said but uh hes dead on the floor _

_ Mari: boy disrupted the whole class with his dramatics _

_ Luka: oh no I’m sorry!! _

_ Luka: i was just trying to help him with his fish issue, i didnt mean to make a scene!! _

_ Mari: sdjk dude its fine i'm just joshing ya _

_ Mari: but he did let out a shrill gasp nino alya and i heard _

_ Luka: phew okay as long as youre all good _

_ Mari: yeah we’re fine you big softy uwu _

Luka relaxed back into his chair, smiling to himself. Adrien must have been really excited for his fish. 

This class was one he could ignore, as he was ahead enough to not be worried, so he spent the entire time researching proper Betta care, and figuring out how many extra guitar lessons he’d have to do to pay for it all. 

Obviously he’d be getting it that day, but he’d probably need to borrow and pay back money from his mom. 

The end of the day couldn’t come fast enough. Luka was vibrating with excited energy, legs bouncing endlessly and fingers twirling his phone on the desk. 

Finally the bell wrung, and Luka shot out the door and into the parking lot. 

His father had gotten him a ratty old truck for his birthday; a horrible, chipped brown clunky old thing with no heating or air conditioning.

It was Luka’s baby and he wouldn’t trade it for anything. 

He hopped into the peeling leather seat, grabbed the sticky steering wheel, and was off for the pet store. He knew which one it was; Adrien always talked about how he sometimes walked there with Nino from the school, so it had to be close by, and there was only one pet store nearby. 

He pulled into the parking lot, hopping out after jiggling his car door a couple of times. 

A bell dinged above his head, and Luka eagerly drank in the sights. In front of him were three aisles, with a diverse mix of hamster, dog, and bird care. To the left of the store was a wall of leashes and litter boxes and the like; to the right, what he was after.

There was a giant wall full of different kinds of fish. Little silver ones, big flashy ones, groups of colourful slim fish; it was amazing to look at. 

But what he wanted was on a shelf beside the fish wall, where dozens of tiny Betta fish were lined up in tiny containers. He scanned them quickly, seeing blue ones with small tails and red ones with long tails, until he came across the ‘rainbow’ one Adrien wanted. It was really just red, blue, and white, but that was still more colours than the others. 

Luka cooed when he saw it, waving at it gently with a finger. 

“Heya little guy.” he whispered. “You and I are gonna make a boy really happy, yeah?” 

It twitched in its jar.

“Alrighty then.” he smiled. 

Making sure he picked out all the right equipment to keep it happy and healthy, Luka waltzed up to the cash register and made his purchase. It wracked up a hefty fee, and as predicted, he had to call his mom to put some money in his account, but it was worth it. 

Carefully strapping his new little friend into the passenger seat, Luka pulled out and drove for his house. 

When Luka sent him a picture of the set up on Snapchat, with all the plants and hides and moss hammock set up, Adrien might have responded with him sobbing happy tears.

And Luka may have screenshotted it. 

But that was whatever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wheres this fic going? whats the plot? whats the point? nobody knows! but im having fun and im priororitizing that. If anyone has any ideas for what they want to see lemme know cause all I got is the ending so far sksjs


	4. You're Supposed to Be on Patrol

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> tsk tsk. these two heroes really can't stay focused, can they?

_ Peaches: tell her that cat paws are not acceptable for people playing intstruments _

Luka chuckled quietly to himself. 

Marinette convinced Kitty Section to enter a music video contest, and was running costume ideas by them all. 

Despite Marinette demanding they all pay very close attention, Luka was texting Adrien updates to distract him from the boring gathering he’d been forced to go on with his father.

He always got sad during those trips; the only time he got to hang out with his father, and it was during social events where he was punished if he didn’t behave perfectly. 

_ Luka: she’s very offended by that, mostly because its true _

_ Peaches: i'm always right ;) _

_ Luka: of course you are, sunshine boys can never be wrong.  _

_ Peaches: aksjfhakjfh sunshine boys? _

_ Luka: yuh boys that are made of pure sunshine. Ive only met one but he’s pretty cool ;0 _

_ Peaches: sjkdhfsdkjhsdg _

Luka smiled. Adrien got complimented a lot, but he still got very flustered whenever Luka said something like that. It was pretty cute. 

“Focus, Luka.” Marinette snapped. She was in full on creative mode, and was looking a little scary. 

She was wearing an oversized shirt, paint covered capris, and her hair was down in a knotty mess. One sock stretched up to her kneecap, the other barely fit on her foot.

Luka only knew this because she had shown up without shoes. 

“Now,” she flipped her large sheet of paper on its easel. “I’m thinking cat masks, but, with unicorn horns.”

Everyone hummed collectively. 

They were sat at the Couffaines dining room table, rocking gently as the boat moved down the Seine. 

This sounded atypical already, but it got more unusual when one looked closer. There was a couch along one side of the table, and every other chair was some kind of loveseat. The table was absolutely covered in paint and marker drawings, some from back when Luka and Juleka were children, some from even before that. 

Marinette was at the front of the table with her sketch books and pitches, Ivan was stretched out over two loveseats, Juleka and Rose were on the couch, and Luka was curled up in his own green floral chair. 

“I think that would be cute!” Rose announced. “I really like the mask part, too! Like, not a full on head, but something cute we can all put our own details on!”

Juleka nodded from under her girlfriend, doodling flowers on the underside of the table. “I’d like that.”

“Can mine be red?” Ivan leaned forward, excited. “I wanna be red.”

“Of course,” Marinette scoffed, “you’re all going to be colour coordinated. I think everyone else’s colours are obvious.”

The three colour oriented teens looked away. 

“Alright, I’m glad we agree on this.” Marinette brushed a wave of hair out of her face. Her eyes were bloodshot and dark with eyebags, but Luka knew it was because she was genuinely enjoying planning all of this out, and wanted to give it her all. “Now, the rest of it. How full body are we going? Keep in mind, I have less than two weeks to get this all ready.”

“Maybe something simple, but eye catching?” Luka mused. “So it doesn’t matter what we wear with it, as long as we do that part well.”

“I like your thinking.” Marinette taped a fresh page to the wall. “Ideas?” 

“Capes!” Rose cheered.

“What about armour?” Ivan proposed.

Marinette seemed to like that one, whirling around and sketching out a loose shape. It was Ivan, with a big chest plate and shoulder pads.

“Like this?” she asked, adding more details.

“That’s pretty sick.” Juleka smiled. 

“And if we wear, like, dark colours underneath, all the attention will be on that.” Rose clapped her hands. “Brilliant, Ivan.”

He blushed and scratched the back of his neck. “Thanks.” 

Luka smiled, and told Adrien what they were planning. 

_ Peaches: that sounds so cool!!! _

_ Peaches: i wish i could be there. _

Luka frowned. Adrien was a master on the keyboard; he had to be, with how often he practiced. He would have been an amazing addition, if only his father wasn’t so stubborn. 

_ Luka: me too. _

“Alright people!” Marinette called for their attention. “On to the backdrop. Now, what I’m thinking is-”

The talk went on for another few hours, with a short break for supper, but when they were done they had planned a lot of it out. Everyone was satisfied with what they had come up with, and agreed to meet up again the next day to discuss things further. 

Luka was sprawled on his bed in his room after saying goodbye to everyone, idly picking at his guitar. 

He kept glancing at his phone, fingers itching to pick it up, but holding himself back.

Adrien had stopped responding suddenly. That could mean he got caught up in the event, or didn’t feel like talking anymore, but Luka couldn’t help thinking Adrien had tired of talking to  _ him. _

Which didn’t make sense, Adrien had never done that before, and had probably just had to put his phone away to be polite. 

Still, the anxiety ate away at him, and he needed something else to do. _ _

Sighing to himself, Luka slid out of bed. It was only ten, and they needed some things anyways. He threw on his favourite hoodie, and went out for a quick grocery run.

This side of Paris was quiet at night. Not many cars drove by, and it was mostly apartment buildings, so light from the streetlamp was Luka’s only company. 

Luka walked down the sidewalk, whistling a song he’d made up on the spot to himself.

It was a little eerie, how quiet everything was. How little movement there was. 

It made him uneasy. 

But, he kept going, because the fresh air would do him good. 

“ _ Little cat, on the roof,”  _ he sung softly.  _ “No more pudding, no more proof. Treasure gone, tucked away. If only it- could have stayed.” _

Something pricked on the edge of his senses, but he kept going.

What did they need? Milk, bread, peanut butter-

_ “Little mouse, off to play,”  _ something flickered in his peripheral.  _ “Happy times, happy day. Spoon of sugar, spoon of spice. Everything is soft and nice.” _

Were those footsteps?

He quickened his pace. 

_ “What is this, that I do not see, what does it want from me? I am a boy, not your prey, please do not-”  _ a hand closed on his shoulder.  _ “-hurt me today.”  _

“Won’t have to if you cooperate.” a man cooed from behind him. His breath stunk of liquor, and Luka wrinkled his nose. 

_ “Icey claws, fatal flaws, he is too bold, all truth be told.” _

“Nice singing.” the stranger complimented, dragging him into an alley and slamming his back against the wall. “Got any money, Songbird?”

He did, in fact, have some money. A few twenties in his wallet, plus his credit card. 

_ “He asks too much, I shall not fold. He is too bold, all truth be told.”  _ he says in lieu of that.

The man leered at him, getting up close and personal. “I’d be more agreeable if I were you.”

Something sharp poked at his stomach. A pocket knife. It was going to cut his sweater. 

Luka gave the man a cold look.  _ “He is too bold, all truth be told.” _

“Need a lesson in manners, Songbird?” he growled, pressing the knife harder. “I’m not a bad teacher.”

Luka kept his mouth closed, but made no move to hand over his wallet. 

“Listen here, you piece of shit-”

_ Whack.  _ He was out cold.

Wide eyed, Luka looked down the alley. 

There was Chat Noir, staff extended, with a glare that froze Luka in his tracks. He looked  _ pissed.  _

He stalked forward disdainfully, kicking the man's limp form when he was close enough. 

Then he turned much softer eyes on Luka, scanning him for injury.

“Are you alright? Are you okay?”

Luka didn’t answer, in shock after seeing his superhero crush up close and personal, worrying over little ol him. 

“Did he cut you?” his voice lowered, sounding genuinely upset, and that shook Luka out of it.

“No, no. I’m okay.” he frowned down at his sweater. “He ripped my new hoodie though. And it was a gift from my friend, too.”

Chat Noir seemed to get a good look at it then, as he lept back. 

“I-is, is that-?”

“Uh, yeah.” Luka blushed. “It’s a Chat Noir hoodie.”

Chat Noir looked flabbergasted, and Luka hoped he wasn’t creeped out by it. 

“It- it looks nice. On you.” the superhero stammered, and now Luka was  _ really  _ blushing. 

“Really? Thank- uh, thank you.” Luka rubbed the back of his head. 

Luka flinched when he felt fingers on his stomach, but it was just Chat Noir surveying the damage. 

“Sorry I didn’t get here sooner.” he whispered. 

“What? No, it’s totally fine.” Luka insisted, gesturing to himself. “Look at me, I’m totally fine, and not poor, thanks to you.”

Chat Noir gave a little smile, and then a full on smirk. 

“Yeah, I am amazing at always being in the right place at the right time.” he flattered himself. “It’s one of my many gifts. My other, naturally, is escorting handsome young men to their destinations. Where are you off to-?” he trailed off, bowing, waiting for a name. 

“Luka, my- my names Luka.” Luka supplied, blushing again for- some reason. 

“Well then, Luka.” Chat Noir extended his elbow. “Shall we?”

He’d never really understood Marinette’s crush freak outs until that moment. 

He almost started spouting nonsense and bolting. 

But, he kept himself together, and took his arm. 

“Where are we going, my good Luka?” Chat asked.

“Uh, there’s a convenience store down the street. I was going out to get some things.” Luka led them out of the alley and pointed where he wanted to go. 

“To the convenience store it is.” Chat smiled. “It sure lives up to its name, huh? So _ convenient  _ that it’s close by.”

Luka wrinkled his nose, fighting a grin. “That was lame.”

Then he felt like an absolute idiot because he called  _ Chat Noir lame _ .

How _ could he _ ? After he’d been so nice, too!

But Chat leaned his head back and laughed, making his bell ring. “Yeah, it was. I’m not on my A game tonight.”

Luka frowned. “Is something wrong?”

Chat gave him a side eyed look, and Luka blushed from his ears to his toes.

“Not that you have to tell me! I’m sorry, that was too bold.”  _ He is too bold, all truth be told.  _

“No no, it’s okay I just-” he sighed, running a clawed hand through wild blond hair. “Don’t want to dump all my problems on you.”

Luka furrowed his brow, and elbowed him gently. “I don’t mind. You just saved my life after all.”

Chat made a face. “You wouldn’t have died.”

“I could hav-”

“Don’t.” Chat snapped, sounding more scared than angry. 

Luka softened. “Okay.”

“Sorry, I’m sorry.” Chat stopped walking and ran a hand down his face. “I just- hate to think that I could fail to save someone.”

“Is that why you’re upset?” Luka asked, stepping forward slightly. 

Chat shook his head. “No no, I’m just- pissed off at my father.”

Luka blinked in surprise. Chat Noir having dad problems? It was strange, hearing something so normal from someone so- not.

“What happened?” Luka prodded, getting ready to apologize for pushing too far.

Chat Noir slouched, letting his arm fall. 

Luka missed the contact instantly.

Chat crossed his arms and rocked on his leather boots, biting his cheek. 

Luka was seconds away from apologizing and leaving him alone forever when he finally spoke. 

“He just- he’s so  _ restrictive.  _ I can’t even talk to my friends when he’s off ignoring me, because then I’m ignoring  _ him. _ ” Chat scowled at the ground. “It’s maddening. I just wanna talk to people.”

“Oh.” Luka said dumbly. 

“My friends are always out doing things and I’m just-” Chat sighed. “Stuck.” 

Luka wished he had his guitar. Things would be easier if he could strum out his thoughts. 

Instead, he caught himself singing again. 

_ “Little kitten in a box. Trapped inside by a mean old fox. He cries he shouts, he jumps about, but to nothing does it amount.”  _

Chat gave him a weird look. “What?”

“Your dad keeps you trapped with him,” Luka began slowly. “So you use Chat Noir as an escape, to be noticed and to interact with people, but you always have to stop at some point. You always have to go back to him.”

Chat stared at him, eyes wide open. “Uh- yeah. Yeah that’s- that’s it.”

Luka rubbed his chin. “Sounds like the problem is your dad. He’s too controlling.”

Chat sucked in his lower lip. “Maybe a little. But what can I do about that?”

“I’m-” he faltered. “Not sure. I’m sorry.” he hung his head.

Chat smiled at him, putting a hand on his shoulder. “It’s okay. It’s not an easy problem to solve.”

Luka shrugged. He still felt bad.

“Come on,” Chat jerked his head. “We’ve got some groceries to get.”

"Oh yeah," Luka had forgotten his original purpose for leaving the house entirely. "Wait, you're coming too?"

"Gotta make sure you're safe for the rest of you walk." Chat winked. 

Luka would never forget the look on the clerks face when he walked in with Chat Noir himself to buy basic household food. 

Chat dashed up and down the aisles, looking far too excited at the crappy knockoff brands they had.  Luka picked up what he needed, and then another whole bag of snacks because Chat insisted he buy them. 

Luka was tired by this point, his arms sagging under the weight of the two bags of food. 

“Watch this,” Chat said suddenly, taking the bags and slipping them on either side of his staff. He hung it behind his shoulders, then grinned very proudly. “Look! I’m an old timey lady!”

Luka giggled. “Very nice.”

Chat walked Luka the rest of the way home, telling him many (probably false) stories of all the akuma’s he’d fought. When they got to the boat, Chat stopped. 

“I guess I’ll leave you here.” Chat slowly lowered the bags.

“Why?” Luka arched his brow. “I bought most of this stuff for you. We should eat it together.”

Strangely, inviting him aboard the ship didn’t fluster him. He was home, he was safe, and he’d just bought twenty dollars worth of candy for a superhero. He felt much more confident than he had half an hour ago. 

“O-oh,” Chat looked away, maybe blushing. It was hard to tell with the mask and dim light. “I guess that would be okay.”

“Great,” Luka grinned, leading him up to the above above deck. 

It was open to the night sky, and the ping pong table they usually had up there had been replaced with lawn furniture, so any Couffaine could sit and watch the stars whenever they pleased. 

Luka put his groceries away in the kitchen, and walked back to Chat munching on licorice. 

“Started without me, huh?”

Chat froze guiltily, a long licorice stick dangling out of his mouth. “No?”

Luka rolled his eyes playfully and sat in the chair across from him. 

“Very convincing,” he reached into the bag for his box of mint chocolates. 

They ate in silence for a bit, both relaxing and enjoying the view. 

Chat was the one to speak again. 

“Were you- did you sing, to that mugger?”

Luka chuckled, a little embarrassed. “Uh, yeah. I did.”

“Why?” Chat asked plainly. 

Luka shrugged. “I was singing before, so I just- kept it going. Made me less scared, at any rate.”

“You uh, like music?” Chat shyly looked away.

“Yeah,” Luka smiled fondly. “I’m in a band with my sister and friends. It’s a lot of fun.”

“What do you play?” Chat busied himself with opening a bag of gummies. 

“Guitar.” an idea popped into his head. “You wanna hear?”

Chat gaped at him. “Is- is that okay?”

“Yeah, of course.” Luka stood up. “Stay here, I’ll be right back.”

Luka’s acoustic guitar was probably his most prized possession. It was covered in stickers and flecks of paint and little notes his mom had written on it to encourage him when he was feeling down. 

He loved it with his whole heart, and didn’t show it to people often. It felt- private, almost. 

But he could show Chat Noir. Showing it to the superhero felt different, less intrusive. 

Maybe it was the mask. 

Chat’s eyes went round when he saw it. 

“Wow.” he whispered. “Colourful.”

Luka laughed. “Most things around here are.”

He sat back on his seat, hands absently playing familiar cords.

Chat closed his eyes and leaned back. 

That gave Luka another idea. 

He played gentler and softer melodies, making him lean back more and more, until he toppled over. 

Luka couldn’t help himself. He bent over his guitar, laughing and hiccuping. 

Chat gave him a stink eye, but started laughing too. 

“And here I thought you were nice.” Chat sniffed, still giggling. 

Luka just smiled. “You have a nice laugh.”

Chat went deathly still, then laughed in a much squeakier voice. “Oh?”

“Yeah,” Luka gave him his warmest look. “You do.”

They didn’t say much more after that. Just finished their snacks and listened to Luka play until the sun came up.

Earlier that night, Queen Bee was also on patrol. 

They were set up in shifts, and tonight, it was her and Chat Noirs turn. 

It was another Wednesday, another slow crime day, but Chloe went out anyways, so as not to disappoint Ladybug. 

Swinging around the streets, Chloe found herself above the cutest little place she had probably ever seen. 

It was a rooftop balcony, with lights strung up, and a little pink lantern, and a saggy lawn chair that was covered in blankets and pillows. 

Chloe cooed, swooping down to check it out up close. 

Sketchbooks were littered on the ground, along with crumpled up pieces of paper.

She picked one up, and gasped at what she saw. 

Sketches of sun dresses, pants with big belts, ball gowns, and more covered the pages. They were gorgeous. 

Chloe couldn’t believe a place like this existed. It was right out of an aesthetic youtube video. 

Chloe wished she knew whoever owned it. She was probably too- bold, for someone who liked things so soft and mellow, but Chloe wanted to befriend them nonetheless. 

Something creaked behind her, and Chloe instantly leapt out of sight. 

Up came someone wrapped in yet another blanket, cup of tea in hand. 

With a sigh, they dropped onto the comfy set up, wiggling around to get comfortable. 

Chloe almost stepped out to introduce herself, but then the blanket fell, and she saw who it was. 

“I can’t believe this, Tikki.” Marinette grumbled to someone; probably talking to a friend on the phone. “I’ve been up for hours, and still no good ideas.

Chloe covered a snort.  _ Not surprising.  _

Marinette opened her sketchbook to one of the pages Chloe had been looking at, and gestured angrily at it. “Look at these! They’re garbage.”

Wait- that wasn’t true. 

Though she would never admit it out loud, Chloe would have worn everything on that page.

Wait, Chloe would never say it-

But what would Queen Bee say?

Chloe paused, blown away by her own idea. 

She had- a very unique opportunity here. She could talk to her rival, without her rival knowing it was her. 

Maybe then she’d get the hype around the pigtailed girl. 

Cautiously, still considering not doing anything at all, Chloe jumped down from her hiding spot. 

Marinette yelped her oh so familiar yelp, and fell out of her chair with a crash.

Chloe almost laughed, then realized that wasn’t what this was about. 

Instead, she extended her hand.

“Thanks, uh, thank you, Queen Bee.” Marinette accepted her help and stood up. “Sorry, I was just surprised.”

“I’m sorry for surprising you.” Queen Bee tried to say as naturally as she could.

“Ah, it’s fine,” Marinette shrugged. “Not like it’s hard to do.” 

Queen Bee tried to chuckle in a nice way. 

She sat back down in her chair. “So, what brings you around these parts?”

“Patrol.” Queen Bee clasped her hands behind her back. “Gotta make sure no ones fucking shit up.”

Queen Bee was surprised at the burst of laughter that came from the other girl. 

“Is that why you checked on me?” Marinette asked, surprisingly sly. “Cause I’m royally fucking up my sketches?”

Queen Bee frowned. “What do you mean?”

With a deadpan look, Marinette showed her her sketchbook. “Look at this shit.”

Again, Chloe knew she would wear everything she was seeing. 

Wait, she could say that. 

“I would wear all of that.” Queen Bee announced. “Especially that belt.”

Marinette stared at her, wide eyed. “Really?”

“Of course.” Queen Bee crossed her arms, winking. “I’m not one to lie about my looks.”

Marinette stared at her for a second longer, than flipped to another page. “What about this one? I’m torn on how I feel about the top.”

Chloe sat down to see it easier. “Hm. the top is cute, but it doesn’t go with the dress. I say keep it for another outfit and try something else. Maybe a wrap around kind of look?”

“Oh, I didn’t think of that!” Marinette’s fingers worked quickly, cutting out the top and replacing the empty spot with a sticky note. “Like this?”

Chloe gave it a once over. “Make it wrap around the neck more.”

Marinette did that, and then Chloe was satisfied. 

“Yes,” she nodded. “Now she’s ready to go.”

Marinette beamed at her, and it was so weird, getting such a happy look from her rival. 

“Here, check these out too!”

And suddenly patrol turned into hours of sitting with Marinette, looking at outfits, and even helping to design some. 

It was- it was fun.

Marinette was- was fun?

That left Chloe with some weird feelings. 

Hopefully, things would be back to normal at school.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a little light on the chloe/marinette, I know, but I want to build up their relationship more as civilians before I really go ham on it.


	5. might wanna skip this one

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> so I may project a little onto Adrien here, and he has an eating disorder? Lol  
I don’t im fine I just have a teeny issue when it comes to eating meals  
So! If you wanna skip that, just stop reading after Chloes part is done

___________   
  
Things were not back to school at normal. 

Dammit,  _ normal _ at  _ school _ . 

Instead Chloe had to  _ bite her tongue  _ so she didn’t say  _ hi  _ to  _ Marinette. _

What was this nonsense?

That was it, Chloe was never experimenting with rivals again. She was going to stay far away from Marinette as Queen Bee, and stick to strictly insults as Chloe.

Then this  _ whole  _ thing would be behind her-

“And Chloe and Marinette will be partners.” Mrs Bustier smiled kindly at them. “Now, girls, I know this may be a source of conflict between you two, but I really hope you can try and make an effort to be civil and come up with a great presentation.” 

Chloe fucking  _ hated  _ this dumbass school. 

She and Marinette shot each other scathing looks, and Chloe’s nails were pressed so tightly into her palms she swore she drew blood. 

This was some fresh goddamn bullshit and Chloe did  _ not  _ have to stand for it. 

“I’m sorry, my dear, but Daddy can’t do anything about it.” her father apologized over the phone. “It doesn’t look good to be constantly meddling with my daughters school.”

Mother _ fucker!  _

Well, maybe she could just- switch partners?

“I’m sorry, Chloe.” Mrs Bustier didn’t bother looking up from the papers she was grading. “But you two are working together and that’s that.”

Son of a cunt sucker this was fucking sabotage. 

Chloe always knew the world was working against her, but this was too much. 

First, she hated the girl, then she had a weird moment with her, and now they had to  _ work together? _

Chloe knew the world deserved to have her for as long as it could, but boy was jumping off a bridge was looking pretty tempting. 

Marinette approached her with a storm in her eyes and force in her fist at the end of the period.

Chloe was almost afraid she was going to get hit. 

“We’re partners.” Marinette gritted out.

“Obviously.” Chloe rolled her eyes, crossing her arms and legs.

“ _ So,” _ Marinette slammed her hands on Chloe’s desk and leaned in close. “That means you actually have to  _ do shit _ .”

Sabrina whimpered at the fury in her tone. 

“I think I can manage that.” Chloe responded cooly, checking her nails.

“Good,” Marinette growled, pulling away. “We’ll have to meet up to talk about what we’re doing.”

“Naturally.” Chloe still didn’t look directly at her, staring boredly behind her head. 

“Where do you want to meet up?” Marinette forced her way into the blondes line of sight.

Smartest place would be somewhere Chloe was comfortable with, but left Marinette out of her element. That would leave Chloe with the advantage. 

“Your place is fine. But make an effort to keep it from looking too much like a hovel, won’t you?”

_ What  _ the fuck had she done? She had just invited herself into Marinette’s home plate!

What the fuck was wrong with her?

Marinette actually looked surprised. “Oh. Okay.”

Dammit, Marinette knew what had just happened too!

Then, she said something Chloe could never forgive. 

“What, um, kind of pastry do you like? I can make some for us.”

Chloe almost ripped her ponytail out of her head. 

_ Marinette  _ had just offered to make  _ Chloe  _ her  _ favourite pastry _ ?

This was ridiculous! What, was this some kind of- of-  _ peace offering? _

_ Disgusting!  _

“I like lemon tarts.” Chloe offered.

_ Why the fuck did she answer honestly??? _

No, no, she could salvage this. This would put pressure on Marinette to make it perfect. 

This could still work.

“Okay.” Marinette gave her a look Chloe couldn’t even  _ begin  _ to decipher. “We can meet tomorrow.” and she walked back to her desk. 

What. The. Fuck. 

Chloe was still freaking out during lunch.

“You know, I’m proud of you, Chlo.” Adrien smiled at her over his sad little sandwich. “You could have put up a big, screaming fight, but you didn’t. You were actually pretty cool about everything.”

Chloe had never hated being praised more. 

“This is  _ horse shit, _ Adrien.” she snarled, clenching her iced coffee in a death grip. “Absolutely ridiculous  _ horse shit _ .”

Adrien shrugged, sipping his orange juice from a straw. “I think it could be good for you. It’s not healthy to have such constant animosity towards someone.”

“I’m managing.” Chloe glowered. 

Adrien laughed, and not even his golden bell like voice could soothe her. “You’re gonna get through this, Chlo. And, who knows, maybe you’ll come out of it with a friend.”

Chloe gave him her fiercest glare. “Have you ever considered drinking bleach?”

“Ouch,” Adrien smiled pleasantly. “You must really be upset.”

Chloe sighed and rubbed her temple, hand wet and cold from her drink. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that. I’m just- I don’t know how I’m going to get through this.”

Adrien put his hand on hers. “With lots and lots of anime with your best friend.”

“Sabrina doesn’t like anime.” Chloe coldly pulled her hand away, but her eyes glittered with humour.

Adrien chuckled. “Yeah, she’d probably calm you down better than I could.”

“She does know how to pacify me,” Chloe stared off into the distance wistfully.

They talked a bit more, about meetings they had to go to, events they had to attend, and both of them sadly trailed off when they realized that was all they had going on in their lives.

“I wish I could hang out with people more,” Adrien whispered.

Chloe couldn’t bring herself to say it, but she did too. 

Difference was, Adrien had people to hang out with. 

Chloe only had him and Sabrina, and Sabrina- well. She tried not to reflectly too deeply on that relationship. 

If she lost her, than she had basically no one. 

That thought left her cold. 

Well, no one but her superhero friends.

And all her worries melted away again. 

That was right, she did have people she could hang out with, and joke with, and just be with, even if they didn’t all meet together that often. 

It was nice. 

Adrien had seemed to calm down too, and they switched to softer topics, like the gigantic bird Chloe had seen in the hotel the other day, or Adrien having an entire conversation with someone only to realize after they had just stolen jewelry. 

Later that day, after school, Marinette was having a breakdown.

“How the  _ fuck  _ do I make pastries?” Marinette snapped into her phone.

_ “I literally don’t know. Like, I cannot even fathom how you do that.” _

Alright, maybe calling Adrien of all people was the wrong thing to do in this situation, but he knew Chloe, and she needed his reassurance. 

So, she’d called the blond and put him on speaker phone while she worked. 

“I came to you for help, and you give me this.” Marinette sneered her disappointment. 

_ “I’m a sad little boy who has only had them on rare occasions.”  _ Adrien sniffed in fake sadness.  _ “I’ve never been taught to bake.”  _

“Ridiculous.” Marinette angrily grabbed a bag of flour. “Utterly ridiculous.”

_ “You sound like Chloe.” _

“I hate you.”

Adrien cackled madly on the other end of the line. 

_ “You should know not to ask the kid with the eating disorder how to bake.”  _ Adrien scolded.

_ “Actually,  _ Adrien Agreste, some people with eating disorders are great bakers, because they love feeding people other than themselves.” Marinette informed the child who was well aware of all of this already. 

_ “Don’t discredit me just because I’m not like everyone else with an eating disorder.” _

“Yours was bred into you, though. Like you were raised on it, so you really aren’t like everyone else.”

_ “If you think about it, everyone was raised on it with the unhealthy standards enforced in fashion.” _

“Which, in a way, you’re enforcing, as a model forcing unrealistic body standards onto himself.” Marinette pointed out. 

_ “So I am contributing to my own eating disorder by modeling.”  _ Adrien theorized. 

“Yes, in more ways than one; since because you’re in the industry you have the eating disorder, and seeing yourself photoshopped makes you feel even worse, and makes other boys feel worse.”

_ “So I and other boys were basically doomed the second my father put me into this.” _

“Yeah basically.”

_ “That’s fabulous. I’m living for that. Just ruining everyone and everything.” _

“What did this conversation become.”

Adrien laughed again. “Not advice on how to bake, I’ll tell you that.”

“That’s right! I’m baking!” Marinette looked down. Her hands had been moving on autopilot, so she’d already gotten pretty far in making the dough. 

_ “So forgetful, Dupain-Cheng.”  _ Adrien chided.  _ “How do you get anything done?” _

“I don’t know,” Marinette admitted sheepishly. “And also- you are not ruining anything, you know. Your father and his industry is.”

_ “The industry you want to enter.” _

“The industry I want to take over.” she corrected. 

_ “Yass queen.” _

Marinette snorted. “Whatever.” 

Adrien’s voice got soft.  _ “I don’t think your fashion will ever make anyone feel bad. You’re gonna make people so happy with your clothes, Marinette.” _

Marinette paused in her dough kneading to smile. “Thanks, Adrien.”

_ “So,”  _ there was lots of rustling, and Marinette could only assume Adrien was readjusting.  _ “What’s with the panic over baking anyways? You’re great at it, you know that.” _

“Yes, but the person I’m baking  _ for  _ is very picky.” Marinette grimaced.

_ “Oh? Who is it?” _

“Chloe.” Marinette cringed just saying the name. 

Adrien choked for a solid minute.

_ “ _ ** _Chloe_ ** _ ?”  _ he gasped, voice raspy.  _ “For real?” _

“It’s- a peace offering.” Marinette squirmed up her face. “I hope. I don’t know. I’m tired of fighting, I guess. I don’t even know why we do it anymore.”

Adrien hummed sympathetically.  _ “I think Chloe feels the same way, she just doesn’t know it.” _

“I hope so.” Marinette mashed her dough into a ball. “That would at least solve one problem.”

_ “I got ninety nine problems, and Chloe might not be one.” _

Marinette giggled. “Basically.” 

_ “So, what are you making exactly?” _

“Lemon tarts.” Marinette wrapped the dough up to let it rest. “Chloe said she likes them.”

_ “Hm, yeah, I think I’ve heard her say that.”  _ Adrien said, soothing some of Marinette’s anxieties.  _ “She likes lots of stuff though, so I’m sure she’d be happy with whatever.” _

“Really?” Marinette frowned, pulling out the ingredients for the filling. “I thought she’d be worse than you.”

_ “Nope.”  _ Adrien popped the p.  _ “Chloe has great metabolizm, gets it from her mom. She can eat any and everything.” _

“That bitch.” Marinette muttered, making Adrien laugh.

_ “That was me for like- two years.”  _ Adrien chuckled.  _ “I was so pissed off, thinking she could eat everything and be fine, while if I ate too many peanuts I’d be too fat to ever model again.” _

“Goddamn, your dad fucked you up.” Marinette didn’t bother hiding the contempt in her voice. “I swear, Adrien, the sooner you get out of that house, the better.”

Adrien whined.  _ “Come on, it’s not that bad. I did it to myself, really. I mean, thirteen years of being fine, and then I had to make a stink out of it.” _

“When did you start modeling as a profession?”

No answer.

“Mhm. My point exactly.”

_ “Shut up.” _

Marinette giggled. “Can’t hide from the truth forever, Agreste.”

Adrien’s little eating problem, as he preferred to call it, had first been discovered by Nino, when he caught Adrien hurling his guts into the Lahiffe’s bathroom, crying because he had eaten too many sweets during their sleepover. 

That was at age fifteen. He’d been violently restricting himself, forcing himself to exercise, and crying himself to sleep for two years. 

Naturally, everyone rioted. 

Alya Nino and Marinette all very seriously considered calling the cops on Gabriel, or going to the mansion themselves and beating the shit out of him, Alix offered to set him on fire, which Marinette thought was very kind of them, Ivan said he had no problem breaking his ribs, and Chloe, in her awe inspiring fury, almost sent a tweet that would have destroyed his career forever.

Unfortunately, Adrien had vehemently opposed to all of it, saying he was fine. 

It took a few months of gentle coaxing, but Adrien finally came around to the idea that he had a serious issue. 

They couldn’t outright go to a doctor; Gabriel would find out, and that would be disastrous, but, to their delight, Nathaniel’s older sister was training to be a nurse. 

She helped him along as best as she could, and with help from his friends, Adrien was doing much better. 

Marinette’s parents had also been stuffing him full of food at every opportunity but that was whatever. 

It was now a sort of- common topic. It wasn’t weird to just bring it up, hell, they even joked about it. 

It was just- a part of Adrien he was overcoming. 

He was starting to eat in large bursts, and eat light over the rest of the day, which, well, was better than nothing. 

He was also starting to let himself eat more sweets, and never said no when the Dupain-Chengs offered him a plate of cookies. 

“You want any if there’s some left over?”

_ “Did you even have to ask.” _

Marinette smiled. “Okay, I’ll set some aside for you.”

_ “Thanks, Mari. you’re the best.” _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for this one being light on genuine content, I hope the set up for the Chloe Marinette thing excites you guys, and we'll be focusing on that and the contest for a bit
> 
> sorry about the adrien thing, again


	6. Chloe bo Boey

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> me??? posting???   
it's more likely than you think
> 
> I'm so sorry lovelies!!! don't worry, i'm not discriminating against you, I haven't posted to any of my stories. bUt i just started a new one and it fueled me to finish this chapter. i hope to give you all more soon, especially bc this is so cute and good i missed it!!!

Chloe was going to vomit. 

Or pass out. 

Or vomit, and then pass out. 

Fuck, that word was gross. Was there a cute, delicate way to say that?

Point was, she felt ill. 

Because, that day, upon  _ her request _ , she was going to the Dupain-Cheng household. 

She hadn’t been there since, what, grade three? When you still had to invite every girl in your grade to parties to be polite. 

Her memories of it were so faint she had no idea where she was going, or how to get to the main part of the house. 

Withering in on herself, she realized she would have to go into the bakery and  _ ask her father _ . 

This day was just awful. A complete write off. 

Chloe had forgone her regular clothes for jeans and a sweater she one hundred percent stole from Adrien, and she found herself fiddling with the drawstrings as she cautiously entered the store. 

There was a line of customers and a few people standing along the sides looking at the display cases. 

Chloe had to admit, everything looked pretty good. Her sweet tooth was crying out at every frosted cupcake and delicate pastry. 

Chloe gave her head a shake, ponytail hitting her in the face. Focus. 

Taking a deep breath and summoning her courage, she strutted to the front of the store, passing the line entirely. 

“Hello, Mr. Dupain-Cheng.” She greeted, leaning against the counter casually. 

The customer behind her made a sound of protest, but she ignored him. 

“Hello, Chloe.” He smiled warmly at her, and she almost flinched at the kind expression. “Marinette’s upstairs, in her room. You can just head up the stairs back there.” He gestured behind himself, and she saw a door in the kitchen. 

“Thanks a bunch!” She smiled cheerily, forced, and skipped behind the counter. 

The second she closed the door, she wilted a little bit. Fuck. There were the stairs to the house. 

She took another deep breath. 

She was Chloe Bourgeois, she could  _ totally _ handle some girls house and family and the girl herself and-

_ Breathe _ Chloe, Jesus. 

One more deep breath and she made her way up the stairs. 

She had to admit, it was kinda cool they lived above their bakery. It was like how she and her Daddy lived in the hotel; more convenient. 

She slipped slightly trembling hands into her hoodie pockets, fingers curling around her phone. 

She was okay. She had this. 

She reached the door. 

With a knock that was not hesitant at  _ all _ , she waited for it to open. 

“Just a second!” An older woman’s called. Soon the door was being swung open to reveal a short Asian woman with a pleasant smile upon her face.

“Ah, Chloe! It’s been so long!” She pulled the teen in for a hug, and Chloe forced herself to not squeak in surprise. “Come in, come in, have a seat on the couch. I’m sure Marinette will take you up to her room, but I’ll just go get her. She might have to tidy up a little bit.” She winked and walked up another flight of stairs, leaving Chloe on her own. 

Chloe rocked back and forth on her feet, looking around. 

The space was small, almost cramped to Chloe. The living room and kitchen were open to each other, with barely any space between them. There was a small tv, a couch, and not much else. Slowly, Chloe entered the small space. 

The couch wasn’t super soft, but it wasn’t horrible. The pillows were a little coarse. The carpet felt- ugly, was the only word that came to mind. 

It was very curious, being in a- what would this be, middle class? Lower middle class? Chloe wasn’t sure. She just knew she hadn’t been in a house like this in a long time. Even Sabrina’s place was more high end than this. 

Chloe startled as footsteps came down the stairs. She turned around, and there was the source of her anxieties. Not that Chloe had them, that was just an expression. 

Marinette had also seemed to forgo her usual outfit, opting for a pink overall dress, with a white t-shirt underneath. Her hair had also changed; most of it was down, but a handful had been tied behind her head. 

She looked- nice. 

For Marinette, of course, nice was barely a step up from gag-worthy awful. 

Of course. 

“Come on,” Marinette waved for her to follow. “Oh, and sorry if my room’s a little messy; I have this thing with Jagged Stone, designing mockups for a new merch line, so it’s a little hectic. I’m actually meeting with him today, so we don’t have that much time to work. Sorry.”

“It’s fine.” Chloe shrugged, eyes flitting to the family pictures on the walls. “Not like I fancy working all day.”

Marinette opened her mouth, and Chloe waited for her retort, but she seemed to change her mind halfway through. 

“Uh, well, I like having something to do all day.” She said instead, turning away and opening the door to her room in the  _ ceiling _ . “Maybe not school work, though. But I like working on outfits.”

_ Ah, so we’re playing nice. _ Probably smart, best to get through this without biting each others heads off. 

“What are you working on?” Chloe asked, internally groaning when she realized Marinette had already told her. 

“Well, there’s the Jagged Stone thing,” Marinette listed off on her fingers, leading her into the bedroom. “And then I’m doing some commissions, some gifts, and costumes for a music video my band is doing for a contest.”

“Wow. You are busy.” Chloe blinked. She didn’t know Marinette was actually working on her designer dreams- she thought they just stayed silly doodles. 

_ ‘Silly doodles you stayed up all night critiquing _ .’ She reminded herself. 

“Yeah, it’s a lot sometimes, but I like what I’m doing, so it’s worth it.” Marinette pulled two chairs up to her desk, removing the fabric piled on them. “So, where do we start?”

“Hell if I know.” Chloe laughed to herself. “I barely understand a word that woman says.”

Untrue. Chloe knew exactly what they could do for their project. But, no point in showing all her cards on the first day. 

“Oh,” Marinette’s face got pinched for a second, then it smoothed out. “That’s alright. I wrote some ideas down anyways, you can tell me which one you like.”

Damn, she really was trying. Chloe almost felt bad for her. 

Chloe scanned the list, nothing piquing her interest. 

“They’re all boring.” She sighed, letting her face squish into her hand. 

Marinette’s eye twitched. 

“But, um,” Dammit Chloe, just had to be insulting. “I think if we did this,” her manicured finger tapped on one of the listed options, “but with some more, I dunno, interaction? It could work.”

Marinette crossed her arms and leaned back. “How do you mean?” 

“Well, I always hate these kinds of projects because we put all this effort into something for only one person to see it. Why not show  _ everyone  _ how smart and resourceful we are?”

Marinette’s face was blank for a moment, then she started to smile. 

“Alright,” she nodded, leaning forward. “What did you have in mind?”

Internally breathing a sigh of relief, Chloe flipped over the list and grabbed a pink sparkly pen (of course Marinette had one of those).

This- might just turn out acceptable. 

Huh. 

Why did that scare her?

Days passed, and Chloe found herself only growing more confused. Marinette asked to sit with her at lunch so they could plan things out, and then it turned into a- a-  _ friendly conversation _ . And that kept happening! The animosity they had so strongly built was all too quickly turning into a quick witted friendship, and Chloe was  _ terrified _ . 

She couldn’t get close to Marinette! She couldn’t get close to anyone!

Adrien and Sabrina were exceptions to the rule. Marinette most certainly was not. 

Chloe found herself panicking about it at night. 

And the worst part was, she didn’t even know  _ why  _ it was bothering her so much!

No, Chloe grimaced to herself. The worst part was Ladybug was starting to come second to Marintette.

She noticed it when she skipped patrol  _ again  _ to hang out with Marinette as Queen Bee, which was so weird, because they had a completely different dynamic.

It was all screwing with Chloe’s head. 

“Queenie?” Ladybug called. 

Queen Bee shook her head. 

“I’m sorry, Love.” She smiled. “I’m paying attention.”

Ladybug gave her a concerned look, then returned to her debriefing.

She had to focus. 

Adrien needed her to come save his ass. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh adrien, what have you gotten yourself into now
> 
> sorry if it feels short i just really wanted to get myself started back up again


End file.
